‘Pakistan’s long-term growth declining’

Minister calls for focus on productivity, exports

Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal has said that the country's long-term growth is on the decline.

Additionally, investment and productivity is also woefully negligible, with Pakistan having the lowest investment rate in the region.

He delivered these remarks as chief guest at the launch of Pakistan's One Year Growth Strategy during a workshop titled "Sectoral Total Factor Productivity in Pakistan", organised by Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) at the Planning Commission Auditorium.

"Historically, taxation has been the priority, and growth has been down on the list," said the minister.

"Therefore, we need to make growth a top priority, and for that, we must focus on investment, productivity, and exports."

Similarly, he said, Pakistan is still unable to tap its potential for enhanced export performance.

"However, the emerging trends in the export sector indicate that if we act proactively, Pakistan can substantially increase exports," said Iqbal.

He added that there is a revolution in the services exports in the form of freelancing, and Pakistan has enormous youth unemployment.

"We can provide employment opportunities to our youth by promoting freelancing and IT exports," he noted.

PIDE Vice Chancellor Dr Nadeemul Haque said that investment and productivity are key drivers of growth in any country.

Unfortunately, both are not only quite low in Pakistan, but have been in a downward spiral over the years, he said.

"The real test then is to raise the investment rate and productivity substantially," said Dr Haque.

He said that the country's fundamental problem is a lack of growth, and a lack of savings, which ultimately leads to a lack of investments.

Dr Haque further stated that people prefer to avoid formal systems due to massive taxation, which hinders growth.

He went on to say that unfortunately, corruption was involved at every step.

Hence, accountability mechanisms should be set apart from management, and no interference should be made. "Mismanagement cost is higher than corruption," he opined.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 5^th, 2022.